And we're back!

I feel like it's been forever since I blogged.

I've been working on a swap package that is shipping tomorrow

that is a secret swap so I can't show you any of it yet.......

And I've been busy sewing :)

I listed 10 new sets of potholders in my shop today.

And 13 new basic hostess aprons.

Now I need to clean up the mess I've made of my sewing room....

*ugh*

Why is it always more fun to make a mess,

than to clean a mess?

Giveaway Day Winner Announced!

Let me first just say how overwhelmed I am

to have received so many wonderful comments!

I wish I had 200 aprons to give away.

I had originally intended on answering every comment,

but I just couldn't keep up.

So if I didn't manage to respond to you personally,

please know that your sweet comments were SO appreciated!

You guys made me laugh out loud at times

 and touched my heart other times

and sometimes both :)

I used the handy random number picker

and the winner of the butterfly apron is:

Crystal who said:

Gorgeous apron, wow! I'm a doll maker from Alberta, Canada.

I have 2 little girls who are my entire world!

Congratulations Crystal!!!!



Inventory Reduction Sale on Etsy!

These guys desperately need a good home!

Just look into their eyes.......

can you feel the love?

If so,

hop on over to my Etsy shop for my

Inventory Reduction Sale!

(sounds impressive right?)

It's time to make room for some new items

and it's just sad that these cuties are wrapped in plastic

instead of being loved.

I have aprons as low as $10.00!

It there is something you've had your eye on,

most likely it's on sale today!

When these items are gone,

they're gone....

and I probably won't be making them again.

(I get bored easily)

Happy Shopping!!!

It's Giveaway Day!!!

Today is Giveaway Day over at SewMama, Sew!

This is my first time participating

and I'm offering this apron that I made using

Moda's Freebird in chocolate brown

and Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird in salmon dots.

What a perfect way to say "Thank You"

to all my followers and readers!

I absolutely LOVE reading your comments

and it always brightens my day!!!

This giveway is open to everyone,

including my international readers

and you don't have to be a follower to enter

but if you are just let me know in a seperate comment

for a second chance to win!

OK....so how can you win this?

Leave a comment on this post telling me a bit about yourself

and where you are from.

(I'm always so interested to know who my readers are :)

You have until May 25th to enter

and the winner will be chosen at random.

I will post the winner on the 26th.

That's it....easy peasy!

Make sure to jump over to SewMama, Sew and

check out the hundreds of other giveaways!

You can't win if you don't enter!

Busy Saturday and a Tusal update :)

There are days that I feel like I get absolutely nothing done,

and other days where I'm surprised by what I manage to accomplish.

Yesterday was a good day.

My machine was hummin'

and all was right with the world!

I used my new walking foot for the first time

and made these fun pot holders

using the free tutorial on Sew4Home.

I was dancing around in my sewing room singing

"I'm walkin on sunshine...yeah

and don't it feel good!"

It's a very good thing you couldn't hear me :)

I leave the singing in the family to my son and daughter in law!

If you read this blog often, you know that I tend to

get on a roll making one project

and before you know it I've made 49 more.

So of course I had to make 3 more taggie blankies too!

I also whipped up 6 coasters as a little anniversary giftie

for my son and his bride.

They've been married 12 years today!

Awesomesauce, right?

I used this free tutorial from Sew4Home.

They are totally FTS (fun to sew)

and I"ll be making more for myself!

And last but not least,

it's time to post my Tusal (Totally Useless Stitch Along)

and show my ORT jar (Old Ratty Threads)

Hope you had a chance to be crafty this weekend too!

Spring 2012 Bloggers Quilt Festival

Today is opening day of Spring 2012 Bloggers Quilt Festival!

If you've never heard of it,

swing on over to Amy's Creative Side

and check out all the details

and drool over all the amazing quilts!!!

I've only been quilting for about a year now

and I'm loving every minute of it!

I've decided to enter my "Tia Helena's" quilt into the competition.

This quilt really began 41 years ago

when my grandparents

were visiting us from Germany.

My "Oma" was an avid stitcher,

both cross stitch and embroidery.

She taught me to stitch that summer.

Fast forward to 2011 when I was looking

through my craft supplies in the garage

and came across these 3 partially completed

Hummel embroideries.

These were the pieces I was working on

with my "Oma" that summer.

I was planning on stitching them to represent

my 3 cousins, Maika, Norma and Sonny.

A few years ago, my cousin Sonny was killed

in a car accident on the Autobahn at age 39.

He left behind his wife and 2 teenage children.

I felt immediately compelled to finish these

pieces and incorporate them into a quilt for my aunt.

(We affectionately call her Tia Helena)

So this is what I came up with.

I used colorful fabrics by Robert Kaufman

to really make the embroideries pop :)

And I really wanted it to be bright and happy!

I hand quilted it using Perle cotton size 8.

My mother just left to Germany on vacation

3 weeks ago and hand delivered it to her sister.

It makes my heart happy to know

that this handwork that was started

by her own mother and finished by her niece

is finally in it's rightful home with her :)

I think that's what I love most about any kind of handwork

is that the love and care that goes into every stitch

will be cherished long after we are gone :)

I have my 2 little granddaughters that were just

born last year and I'm hoping that one day

they will sit with me in the backyard

on a sunny afternoon

and discover a love for handwork

from their Nana....

just like I did :)

Maika

Norma

Sonny

Patchwork Taggie Baby Blankie Tutorial

I'll admit that I have an ever growing stash

of  girly flannel remnants.

I just keep buying them every time

I see them in the remnant bins.

I can't really explain why I love them so......

But today I'm actually going to use some of them!

See....I knew they'd come in handy someday :)

What you'll need:

1 - empty baby wipes packet

1 - 9 1/2" square of Minky

9 - 3 1/2" squares of flannel

Assorted ribbons cut into 4" pieces

 (the amount of ribbon will depend on the width you choose

and your own preference as to how many you want)

When choosing ribbons,

think about texture for your baby.

You don't want anything too stiff.

Sew together rows of 3 of your 3 1/2" squares,

using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Press the seams:

row 1 to the left,

row 2 to the right,

row 3 to the left.

Now you will sew your rows together.

Because your seams are pressed to opposite sides

you can "butt" them up against each other

to give you nice intersections.

I pin the intersections so they don't move.

Now you have a 9 1/2" square.

Position your ribbons where you like them.

Fold them over and pin in place.

Using a 1/4" seam, stitch the ribbons in place,

pulling the pins as you go.

Place the Minky square over the flannel patchwork

with right sides together.

The empty baby wipes package

will be placed on top of the Minky square.

Now flip your stack of fabric over so that the flannel patchwork

is now on top and the Minky

and baby wipes package are on the bottom.

Stitch again just inside the stitching

line from when you attached the ribbons.

This will insure that you catch all the ribbons again.

Sew all the way around leaving

a 3" opening on one side for turning.

Trim off the extra baby wipes package.

Turn right side out through your opening.

Slip stitch the opening closed.

Top stitch at 1/4" all the way around.

I like to attach those absolutely fabulous

rings to one corner so you can attach it to the stroller

or highchair to keep your sweet baby from dropping

her cute taggie blankie on the ground 517 times.

The empty baby wipes package inside makes that

magical noise that seems to keep babies happy :)

(When you wash this

I wouldn't use the dryer

because of the baby wipes packaging,

just air dry.)

There you have it!

Another easy peasy project!

Happy Day and Happy Mail!

Yesterday was a Happy Day indeed!

Our little princess Sofie turned 1 year old!

(although I'm not really sure how that is possible

because I haven't aged a bit since she was born :)

We spent a wonderful day at Disneyland

to celebrate with her Mommy, brothers,

Auntie, cousins and Nana (of course)

She's going to have a fabulous birthday party

coming up in the next few weeks.

And as for the Happy Mail.....

 I received this super fun and colorful mug rug

from my swap partner "Cass the Coolest"

all the way from Australia!

Thanks so much Cass! I love it!!!

And if that wasn't enough,

today I received some beautiful linens

that I ordered from Crazy Annie's Stitchin.

She was having an awesome sale

so I got these at 35% off!

( I strive to never pay full price for anything!)

Also my wonderful hubby bought me

a walking foot for my sewing machine for Mother's Day

and it arrived today too!

I can't wait to play with it!

Last but not least,

this is a fun summer sampler by Bent Creek

 that I am currently stitching.

I'm using buttermilk linen instead of the

dirty linen they used.

I purchased all 4 seasons of the "soapbox" designs.

I'm hoping they will all be cute when they're done :)

Happy Monday!

I had such a lovely weekend with my family :)

I hope you all did too!

I finished the mug rug for my swap partner

and it's on it's way to Australia now.

I hope she likes it!

I also finished up a fun little cross stitch pillow.

"Support our Troops" by Erica Michaels

Stitched on 28ct linen over 2 threads.

I found this backing fabric out in the garage

along with some other patriotic fabrics

that I used a lot

when I was making raggedy ann dolls years ago.

This is the needle book I stitched for my Mom.

I know she'll love the Delft tile look :)

I found this needlebook kit on ebay.

It made me laugh to think

that this pattern was designed in Scotland

and it's a classic Delft tile pattern from Holland

being stitched by a woman born in Holland

who now lives in California

and it's being mailed to a woman in Germany

who married a man from Holland

that now lives in California

but is on vacation in Germany where she was born.

Makes perfect sense right?

Quilt top finished :)

I finished piecing the quilt top for my "Pure" quilt.

I'm using the Family Room Quilt pattern on page 87

of Sweetwater's Simple Home book.

I love these fabrics!

They just look so cozy :)

I've also finished a cross stitch piece for the swap I joined

but we are not allowed to show anything on our blogs

until our partner has received it.

And I'm finishing up a mug rug for another swap

but I'm going to keep that a secret as well.

I want my partner to be surprised :)

Have a lovely weekend everyone!!!

Work in Progress Wednesday :)

I have the center of my "Pure" quilt pieced together.

I love these fabrics!

The girls at Sweetwater did such a great job

mixing masculine and feminine prints in this collection!

I'm happy with the way it's turning out so far.

 Although the more quilts I make,

the more I realize that I don't really enjoy

making the same blocks over and over.

I must have a very short attention span :)

My next quilt will have to be another sampler

just for fun.

Tomorrow I have to run to M & L

to buy the fabric for the sashing and borders

so I can finish this quilt top.

Here are a few of the little squares that I plan to use

 for the backside of the quilt.

And yesterday I received the Silent Cinema fabrics that I ordered.

(Man I love to get fun packages in the mail!!!!)

When I ordered these fabrics,
I thought the print was smaller.

Now that I see them in person I think

I'll pick different fabrics for the dress

and use these for some fun

 summer weight jammies instead :)